The 26 most innovative universities in Europe - ranked

Universities are hubs of innovation, but the concept of innovation itself is difficult to measure empirically.

Thompson Reuters' ranking of the most innovative universities in the world, attempts to do just that, however.

The ranking was created from these variables: the number of patents filed by each university between 2008 and 2013, how many of those were granted (as a percentage) and the commercial impact the institution's research has had.

Of the 100 ranked by Reuters, 26 of those are from Europe.

You can check out the full ranking of the top 100 most innovative universities in the world and a full explanation of its methodology at Reuters.